Orbit Media Studios » Barrett Lombardohttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog
Join over 8,800 people who receive bi-weekly web marketing tips.Sat, 01 Aug 2015 16:01:38 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.2Multilingual Web Design: 12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting (Part I)http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/multilingual-web-design/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/multilingual-web-design/#commentsMon, 07 Jul 2014 14:49:26 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=8464Bonjour! This is the first in a series of articles to share the lessons we’ve learned about multilingual web design. It’s common to think you need your site translated to address users in multiple languages. But exactly what that looks like covers a wide range of options.

Bonjour! This is the first in a series of articles to share the lessons we’ve learned about multilingual web design. It’s common to think you need your site translated to address users in multiple languages. But exactly what that looks like covers a wide range of options.

The first issue – and subject of today’s post – are the questions you should be asking internally before embarking on a multilingual web design project. It’s an expensive and time-consuming undertaking and you want to be sure you’re choosing the right solution.

Translating vs. Localizing:

1. How are our organization and marketing efforts structured?

2. Do we market differently by region or country?

3. What percentage of our audience does not speak English?

4. Are we speaking to different audiences within the United States or is this a global effort?

5. Does our business operate under the same brand worldwide?

6. Do our products and services vary by language or country?

This set of questions addresses one basic question; do I translate or localize my site? The deciding factor is if you’re speaking the same message to all audiences or crafting it to the culture and audience reading it.

In many cases, you’re translating the bulk of your content but adding or removing based on local laws or culture. For instance, your site may require a page of SEC disclosures that wouldn’t apply in Europe. Or you finally have a home for that David Hasselhoff testimonial because, you know, Germans love David Hasselhoff.

Where you are on that spectrum can influence if you’re building one site and translating it or building several sites that are separately managed. That’s a bigger question, and we’ll address it in a later post.

Managing Content:

7. What are our content management expectations?

8. Do we need to translate all of our content or just some of it?

9. What about time-related content such as news?

10. Will one group be handling all the content management or is it on a regional/language basis?

11. Is any of the content shared or language-agnostic?

12. How often will we change the content after going live?

If you build a multilingual site, you’re going to need to manage it going forward. One trap to look out for is anything time-related. If part of your site involves a news or calendar section, maintaining that in several languages over time can turn into an expensive proposition. Unless you have fluent speakers in house, you would have to engage a translation company every time a news article or event is posted. Often clients choose to keep these sections as English only.

But that doesn’t address editing content that is more or less static. If the homepage messaging needs to change, then presumably that needs to be updated in every language. If that gets to be a common occurrence, the translations of those pages can quickly become out of date. A workflow process needs to be established that keeps track of what has changed, who has changed it, and if the translations are now out of date.

The content management system should have a mechanism for managing that, but some internal workflow will also need to be established. What that looks like will depend on whether one central team is managing the website or if it’s distributed by language. Having a dedicated team reduces the risk of inconsistent messaging across languages, but if they don’t speak all the languages they’re managing other embarrassments may arise.

Finally, some of your content may not need to be translated. If products or locations are the same in all languages, there is no need to spend the effort or introduce the overhead of managing several copies of them.

Next Steps

Answering these questions will get you thinking about how far you need to go to meet your business goals. It will at least give the team building the site some information to make an informed recommendation on which path you should pursue. There are other challenges and traps to avoid, such as design implications, which we’ll address in the next post.

Did we leave any questions out? Let us know in the comments below.

Editor’s Note: This post and the following posts in this series were co-authored by Ben Steinbuhler, Project Manager at Orbit.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/multilingual-web-design/feed/3How to Fail at Custom Web Application Designhttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/custom-web-application-design/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/custom-web-application-design/#commentsThu, 13 Feb 2014 16:31:10 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=7355After 12 years of experience building custom web applications for both ourselves and our clients, we have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to totally bomb a complex project.

A web application is simply a website or a website feature that is designed for a user to perform a specific task. ... Read More >]]>

After 12 years of experience building custom web applications for both ourselves and our clients, we have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to totally bomb a complex project.

A web application is simply a website or a website feature that is designed for a user to perform a specific task. This task usually requires information to be entered or shared by the user. The simplest example is a contact form (and yes, once upon a time the development of a contact form was an expensive and custom feature for a website service provider). Other examples:

Healthcare.gov was developed by CGI Federal – this is a massive web application that integrates with hundreds of other web applications in the insurance industry.

Association management websites are built on top of platforms, integrated, and customized to each association’s needs. Some providers are acgisoftware.com and memberclicks.com

There are many small web applications on custom designed websites like a portfolio (example below), a social media feed, and an ROI calculator.

Regardless of the size and scope of the custom application or feature, the fundamentals are the same.

What are Common Issues That Result in a Failed Custom Project?

Bad communication

A series of good conversations between you and the service provider are necessary to determine a fit for the two parties. However, even if the two parties have a good rapport, there can still be trouble if there isn’t a true understanding of goals and expectations for success.

Unclear goals

If the provider can’t understand why you want this application, it’s impossible to assess or prioritize requirements. Start with getting buy-in from your own team.

Document a project charter and let the appropriate team members contribute to the goals, current issues, and then clear requirements for completion. If your team understands the document, odds are better that the provider will too.

Vague requirements

Along with unclear goals come vague requirements – even worse are incorrect requirements! Clearly documented requirements prevent misunderstanding later in the project.

Requirements will change.

It is inevitable that at some point in the process, no matter how well the goals and requirements were mapped out, something new, unexpected, or unforeseen will pop out of nowhere – and that’s ok.

Goals and requirements should be documented and approved by your team at the beginning and every time they change.

Scope creep

“But I thought it would do this…”

Also knows as:

“What if we changed that to…?”

“I thought it would work more like…”

“Can we just add this…?”

“OMG I forgot we needed that…!”

“Scope creep” can result in disaster: wasted time and money, low morale, mistrust and resentment. Everyone can feel it coming, and without good project management, the work can spin out of control.

Make sure you have a clear understanding and acceptance of the process the provider uses to document goals and requirements.

Even (and especially) if the project goes smoothly, dreams of the next phases to capitalize on the investment can be thwarted if not discussed early on in the project.

I would like an app with that…

Web applications are not the same thing as device applications, software, or mobile apps. They can’t just be converted into an app later.

A web application can serve as the source of data to feed an app, but that needs to be planned from the beginning.

Can we integrate with…?

Maybe.

If you have any plans to integrate other systems with your web application, make it a goal and requirement from the start. It may be impossible to do so later!

Unrealistic Expectations

You know your business, your market, and your staff pretty well. You might personally know your customers well. But you do not know if your users (customers or staff) will want to use the web application as documented.

Your provider likely does not know your business, your market, or your staff. They probably know about usability and data architecture and design process for your project. But they will not know if the final product will be useful to your users.

In other words, both you and your service provider need to have realistic expectations for the chance of success as defined for the project.

What is the critical mass of users needed to be successful?

What is the shelf-life of the web application?

How will the product change?

The odds of success of your project are greater when you, the provider, and the users collaborate to define the final product; and then expect it all to change.

Building a Better Robot

Plan big, start small

There is a term in software development called the Minimal Viable Product (MVP). MVP is a strategy targeted at avoiding building products that customers do not want and seeks to maximize the information learned about the customer per dollar spent.

A project that defines success milestones with MVP in mind have:

lower risk of wasted effort (and money)

better chance of user acceptance

longer shelf-life

User buy-in, beta users

With each release, there should be a plan to involve real users to test and provide feedback to you and the provider.

Mistakes; expect rework; repeat

Feedback may reveal issues you never considered – and that’s ok. Requirements will change. Incorporate these changes into the next release.

Integration-first

There is a fundamental difference between a stand-alone (or closed) application and an API driven (or open) application. If there is ever an intention to integrate with another system, build that in first.

Be prepared for failure if you don’t invest in marketing

It’s harder to get users than you think. Just because your team and your beta user group loved the product doesn’t mean that they will actually use it. You will need to stay involved with your user base and keep improving the product.

The Safe Approach: Consider Prototypes with Existing Tools

Build vs. buy

The cost to build can be high and never-ending. The cost to buy is fixed and only incurred once. Maybe you can build on top of it. Shop around first. If you are using open-source web software like Drupal or WordPress, there may be a module or plug-in that does 80% of what you need.

Why buy when you can rent?

There are tons of hosted platforms on the web – also known as “software as a service” (SaaS). Start your research by trying a hosted solution. You will learn a lot about workflow, usability, and limitations that may apply to your custom web application if you decide to pursue it. If you can get away with the hosted software solution and conform to its limitations for a while, you may get some time to save for the investment. And hopefully, the provider will listen to their customers’ requests and build in new features.

Consider the total cost of ownership

When it comes to determining the ROI, be sure to add up the shelf-life, support, and updates. If you are creating a competitive product, others will work to make something better. If you are developing a closed application for your company, the software and hardware will become outdated. As always, requirements will change.

How Does it End?

If you’re lucky, it doesn’t end. A healthy web application is an ever evolving piece of software. Assuming you will succeed in the early stages, you will have many opportunities to practice steps towards greater achievements.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/custom-web-application-design/feed/4Responsive Retrofit: How to Extend the Life of your Websitehttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/responsive-retrofit/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/responsive-retrofit/#commentsTue, 04 Feb 2014 15:26:33 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=7309Your company may have invested a lot of money in a new website in the last few years, and it is not mobile optimized. If you are looking at Google Analytics, you will see that mobile traffic is increasing every week! In fact, according to Gigaom.com, Black Friday sales on smartphone-optimized websites were ... Read More >]]>Your company may have invested a lot of money in a new website in the last few years, and it is not mobile optimized. If you are looking at Google Analytics, you will see that mobile traffic is increasing every week! In fact, according to Gigaom.com, Black Friday sales on smartphone-optimized websites were up 187% this year.

What is wrong with the 3 year old website I already have?

Designed to be a specific screen size…

Screens for web use today are both very small and very large compared to the web users’ experience 3 years ago.

There is either a lot of empty space on big screens, or seems really tiny on small screens.

If your site is not responsive, it may require a lot of pinching and zooming. Test your site. If it is a pain for you to navigate and use, it will be for your potential customers.

Small screens…

Are everywhere; your website will likely appear really small, and in some cases will not be usable on mobile browsers.

Ironically, the older the website, the more optimized it is for small screens! Designs for 800×600 pixel resolution actually scale ok on a tablet in landscape mode, but the fingertip may be too big relative to navigation and links. Feel free to kill me with comments!

According to Harvard Business Review, “the easier a brand makes the purchase-decision journey, the higher its decision-simplicity score.” Make it easy for your users to access your site and get to the content they need and want.

Large screens…

Are usually far away from the viewer, and though the website will appear as intended, it will seem small from across the room.

Most people accept that increasing the zoom on the browser will suffice in a usable and pleasant website experience.

What is responsive web design (RWD)?

Responsive web design is when your website is designed and programmed to be fully optimized on various screen sizes and devices.

How would a responsive retrofit work for me?

A “responsive retrofit” is a fun term used to describe a technical change to the HTML, CSS, and Javascript to allow for the existing content, navigation and images to respond to smaller screen sizes without rebuilding your entire website.

All work is “behind the scenes” and would not disrupt your website administrators, your marketing team, or your website users.

What are the expected results of a responsive retrofit?

Your website should look and behave the same or better on desktop and large screens.

Retrofit first, content design later

Extend the lifespan of your current website with a responsive retrofit and save up for the next version of your website!

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/responsive-retrofit/feed/1Mission to Mobile: A Guide to Mobile Websites, Apps, and Templateshttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/mobile-website-guide/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/mobile-website-guide/#commentsThu, 28 Mar 2013 18:27:04 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=5130There are many options to creating a mobile presence for your business. I’ve identified the top four. If you intend to have an informed conversation, here is a mobile website guide to help you out.
1. Separate Mobile Website
What is it?

There are many options to creating a mobile presence for your business. I’ve identified the top four. If you intend to have an informed conversation, here is a mobile website guide to help you out.

1. Separate Mobile Website

What is it?

A specific standalone website optimized for mobile users.

What is the goal?

Display website content in an optimized format for as many mobile device users as possible.

How does it work?

Programming logic is used to identify the user’s device, redirecting the user to the mobile website.

When does this approach make sense?

Your current website is new, very custom, or too complicated and works really well as it is to consider other options.

The vast majority of your full-site content is not relevant to mobile users.

If your users are only going to use the mobile site to accomplish specific tasks like getting directions to a restaurant, checking an event schedule at a conference, or getting timely information like the weather or tee times at a golf course.

Pros

Mobile content is optimized to only mobile devices, so messaging and funneling can be unique to generate conversions.

If designed well, features function optimally and specifically to the mobile device.

Cons

Managing sales and promotions on multiple platforms may be challenging.

Managing content in multiple places is daunting and sometimes confusing to users.

Ranking in search engines is more complicated. You’ll need to make sure that Google mobile sitemaps must are properly formatted and 301 redirects should be in place for all URLs of one website to the corresponding URL of the other website.

The experience on a non-mobile device will be very different than the full-site and may confuse the user’s interpretation of the brand. This is especially true for ecommerce.

Conclusion

For years, this approach has been the most respected by both website designers and UX specialists. But as mobile device usage has increased, more devices hit the market, and content marketing has become more sophisticated, the above disadvantages have become surprisingly serious issues. Unsurprisingly, websites have evolved to solve these challenges.

2. Mobile Templates

What is it?

A website that has additional designs and programming to accomplish specific tasks on a mobile device.

What is the goal?

Display mobile-formatted website content and features using the same content and URLs as the full-site on mobile devices.

How does it work?

Programming logic is used to identify the user’s device, browser, and screen size to display mobile website templates.

When does this approach make sense?

If you already have a website that you like, and your content management platform supports mobile templates (like Mighty-Site).

Pros

All users of mobile devices can access the same content as the full-site.

You only need to promote one URL to users and search engines.

You only need to use one CMS to administer all website content.

Google prefers the same content and URLs for a website regardless of the device.

The user can expect the content to be the same regardless of the device or browser size they are using.

The mobile website features will function best on the mobile device.

Cons

Although the mobile templates are built within the same website platform, there are still two websites to maintain. New features and functional changes would need to be programmed twice.

Conclusion

This is a great option if your website platform can support it and if you are getting the desired results with the full-site. However, while a mobile template may extend the shelf-life, as device standards and capabilities change, you will likely start planning the next version of your website using Responsive Web Design.’

3. Responsive Web Design (RWD)

What is it?

In the purest form of responsive web design, the website content formatting and layout fluidly changes to the browser size.

What is the goal?

Display ALL the same website content in an optimized format for all users on any device.

How does it work?

A clever combination of HTML, CSS and Javascript on one website.

When does this approach make sense?

If you are considering a new website, think responsive.

Pros

Though the initial cost will be significantly higher than a non-responsive website, the shelf-life and total ROI is much higher.

Website maintenance costs are likely lower than other options because there is only one website to update (i.e, you only need to use one CMS to administer all web content).

As other devices or screen sizes become popular, the responsiveness of the website can be changed – do you own a “smart tv” yet?

All users of all devices can access the same content.

You only need to promote one URL to users and search engines.

Google prefers the same content and URLs for a website regardless of the device.

The user can expect the content to be the same regardless of the device or browser size they are using.

The website features will function consistently at any screen size.

It’s really fun to shrink and grow a browser to watch the website change before your eyes!

Cons

The initial development costs can be very high – especially if the site is built to be fluid for all screen sizes.

Although the content is optimized to the screen size, the user experience at every screen size is inherently compromised by the content structure, depth and file format of the content.

Image size and quality is compromised to accommodate both the design goals of a full website and the bandwidth limitations of mobile devices.

PDF downloads are not a good experience on mobile devices.

Video playback will be inconsistent depending on the device, especially due to Adobe Flash being prohibited on iPhones.

RWD is never pixel-perfect. With so many devices and browsers, there are likely to be unexpected formatting issues unless rigorous testing is enforced for every content change on the website.

Conclusion

Many experts believe RWD is the web design standard of the future. It solves many current web marketing and usability problems. Although it does create a few new challenges and costs more to produce, the results are awesome.

4. Mobile Apps

What is it?

Software built for specific smartphone devices.

What is the goal?

Some experts would say the goal is to create a unique and intimate experience between the brand and the user. The user may feel like they “own” something rather than are “visiting” a website.

How does it work?

Apps are downloaded from smartphone stores like Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Windows 8 App Store to devices.

When does this approach make sense?

If you have an established brand and want to increase user loyalty.

If you want users to pay for the app.

If there are specific features that can only be accomplished with the device, such as GPS, camera, and saving to the drive for offline availability.

Pros

Device notifications can remind the user to open the app or push information and promotions.

App storefronts display user reviews and feedback.

Apps can have a lasting “viral” nature.

If done well, the app can be a unique and intimate experience.

Cons

The time to market for an app is longer.

Apps are harder to promote.

The app is more expensive to maintain.

One must both market the app and the information within the app – does anyone know if it is even possible to create a link to a specific page of content within the app from an email or website or another app?

Content management must be built into the app, but it is likely limited compared to a website.

Tracking user behavior within the app must be built into the app and likely not integrated with Google Analytics.

A user can easily delete an app.

It is not so easy to share an app with others.

Total cost of ownership is expensive.

App costs are in addition to the website (and mobile website).

Programming and testing app maintenance is very time-consuming and costly considering all the device platform versions.

Conclusion

Practically speaking, anything built for a mobile app can be built as a mobile website. So what companies really benefit from web apps?

High-end retail establishments may offer a mobile app for ecommerce shopping because it integrates with their ERP and fulfillment systems out of the box.

BIG brands where web content for consumers matters little, but the user experience matters a lot – like Coca-Cola.

Newspapers, magazines, and games.

There are probably a lot more details to add to this guide. Please add anything you know that I don’t to the comments of this article!

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/mobile-website-guide/feed/6Who Owns My Website? Ownership and Terminologyhttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/website-terminology/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/website-terminology/#commentsThu, 17 Jan 2013 12:12:42 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=4632“I want to own my website” Sooner or later, every web design company needs to address this request. Simple as it sounds, it really is complicated. A website is built with many assembled parts and you may be surprised to learn who legally owns each part.

The following website terminology is a guide of what you ... Read More >]]>

“I want to own my website” Sooner or later, every web design company needs to address this request. Simple as it sounds, it really is complicated. A website is built with many assembled parts and you may be surprised to learn who legally owns each part.

The following website terminology is a guide of what you really own and what you’re really just leasing.

Web Server – You Don’t Typically Own This

The computer running the Web Server Platform that hosts your website.

For most hosting services, the data center owns your web server and leases it to you or your web vendor.

Obviously, you will own your website server if you purchase one, but this is usually cost prohibitive to maintain.

Web Server Platform - You Don’t Own This

This is the system software running on the server. Common examples include LAMP (Linux Apache MySql PHP), Windows IIS + ASP.NET, and Microsoft SQL Server.

You will never own this.

Content Management System (CMS) – You Don’t Own This

A Web Application that is used to manage the administration of content for your website. Examples include WordPress, Drupal, Mighty-Site.

You only own your CMS if you author your own source code and wrote it yourself. This is common to all software. Unless you’re a software company, you don’t own any software on any computer.

The CMS (and all software) is owned by the respective creators and licensed to you.

Custom programming written on top of a Website Platform might be something you can own. This gets complicated with Open-Source platforms due to the GNU General Public License.

Database Software – You Don’t Own This

You own your website data and content stored in the database if you author it.

Source Code (other custom programming) – You Don’t Typically Own This

The programmed code created in the language of the Web Server Platform that contains the logic and connectors to other software running on the server. Source code may also communicate with outside integrated system servers. The source code will generate the HTML/CSS/Javascript for the browser to render to your screen.

You will own your website source code if you or your employee authors it.

Otherwise, it is owned by the creator and licensed to you.

“Work for hire” could be specified in the agreement to ensure you own the website source code upon completion and final payment of the project. This gets complicated with proprietary and Open-Source platforms due to Intellectual Property and the GNU General Public License.

“Control” of the source code is usually the critical concern with contracting custom development and is usually amenable by using an open-source platform.

HTML/CSS/Javascript - You Should Own This

HTML and CSS are the building blocks of almost all websites. It is a language that browsers understand. The Javascript is programming that may alter the HTML and CSS as one interacts with the website.

The website creator should provide an agreement giving HTML/CSS/Javascript ownership to you upon completion and final payment of the project.

Otherwise, unless you or your employees authored it, it is owned by the website creator and licensed to you.

Visual Design – You Should Own This

The combination of layout and presentable graphical assets like colors, photography and typography to create the user interface, images and videos, and readable content of the website. The HTML/CSS/Javascript will contain the information to display these assets so the browser can render the website on your screen.

The website creator should provide an agreement giving website visual design ownership to you upon completion and final payment of the project.

Otherwise, unless you or your employee created the designs, it is owned by the creator and licensed to you.

Text Content – You Own This

The formatted, readable, search engine indexable, copy and pastable website text that is rendered in the browser.

You will own your website text content if you or your employee authors the content.

Otherwise, the creator of the website is the legal “author” of the website text content.

The website creator should provide an agreement giving website content ownership to you upon completion and final payment of the project.

Photography – You Own This… If You Took The Pictures

The entire or part of a digitized photograph used on a website as either part of the logo, user interface, slideshow, gallery, video or other visual design asset.

You will own your website photography if you or your employee captures the photographs

Otherwise, you are only given a license to others’ photography. Keep a record of that license.

Browser – You Don’t Own This

A browser is the computer software we use to look at websites. Examples are Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera. A browser will display the rendered website which includes the HTML/CSS/Javascript and all visual design assets.

You will never own this.

Domain Name – You Don’t Own This Either. Surprised?

The Domain Name appears in the address bar of the browser. It is the humanly memorable, identifiable part of the website URL that is indexed by search engines, displayed in most marketing, and remembered as part of the brand.

You do not actually own a domain name even though you are a registered domain owner.

You have a contract with the domain registrar giving you “ownership” of the domain much like a contract with a telephone company for a phone number.

From Wikipedia: “…domain name registration with a registrar does not confer any legal ownership of the domain name, only an exclusive right of use.”

The Legal Reality of Owning a Website

You will never legally own the domain name, web server platform, CMS, web platform, database software, or language used to build your website.

You will usually never own the web server that hosts your website.

You are be granted a license to use the Intellectual Property of the website creator and/or the web platform used to build it.

Only if you program the website yourself or have a “work for hire” agreement, you will own the website source code.

If you author your own content, design the interface, take your own photographs, and create your own graphics, you will own all of the website “visual design” and content.

Own Your Website “Finished Assembled Work”

The website terminology that matters most is the “finished assembled work.” I define this as the HTML/CSS/Javascript, visual design, and the text content that is rendered by the Browser. The entirety of finished assembled work can be saved and stored by you, and can be rebuilt with any website platform. Look for contractual terms defining “finished assembled work” and stating you own the website “finished assembled work” upon completion and final payment of the project.

Are you surprised? Have anything to add? Just leave a comment below.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/website-terminology/feed/11Here’s Your Website. Have a Nice Day!http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/web-partner/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/web-partner/#commentsWed, 07 Nov 2012 22:36:20 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=4226Andy, my partner, wrote an article recently, “How Not to Buy a Website,” which describes a backwards process that many companies pursue in getting a new website.

The final point of the article stresses the benefits of considering the post-launch life of your new website, not just the short-term goal ... Read More >]]>

What Makes a Good Web Partner?

Andy, my partner, wrote an article recently, “How Not to Buy a Website,” which describes a backwards process that many companies pursue in getting a new website.

The final point of the article stresses the benefits of considering the post-launch life of your new website, not just the short-term goal of building a new website. As Andy recommends, find a partner, not a vendor.

If you are simply buying a website -

A web vendor selection is based on short-term requirements like design, price, and timing. The goals are to maximize quality and minimize immediate costs.

If you are seeking a web partner -

A web partner selection decision is based on long-term requirements like client service, web marketing consulting, website support, technical maintenance, and website uptime. The goal is to maximize the benefits for the life of the website.

In other words, a decision based on long-term benefit will result in the appreciating value of that website. Short-term-based decisions could result in a stagnant website or require higher costs to enhance and improve that website.

Go Long with a Web Partner

A long-term view of your website will change your perspective from considering a website vendor to choosing a website partner. You will benefit more from the investment if you give equal or more importance to requirements related after the new website is live.

Things to keep in mind for the long haul:

Your website is never complete.

As your company evolves, your website content should too.

If you use your website effectively, the website content will change consistently.

The activities for maintaining a website are not the same as building it.

To know that your website is effective, you will need to learn how to measure results.

A real web partner will stick with you for the long haul by helping with hosting, website and server support, and results-based consulting.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/web-partner/feed/2Ecommerce Integrationhttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/ecommerce-integration/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/ecommerce-integration/#commentsThu, 16 Aug 2012 19:34:52 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=3443Ecommerce websites deal with all kinds of information, including information about products, shipping rates, taxes, inventory, orders, customers, etc. Many ecommerce sites handle large sets of data – often thousands of products – and it needs to be moved so quickly – orders must be passed on immediately for shipping.

Ecommerce websites deal with all kinds of information, including information about products, shipping rates, taxes, inventory, orders, customers, etc. Many ecommerce sites handle large sets of data – often thousands of products – and it needs to be moved so quickly – orders must be passed on immediately for shipping.

This is why integrating ecommerce websites with other systems saves time and costs. For many ecommerce web design projects, Orbit connects the website with other systems and platforms.

Integration work ranges from API integration (real-time) with large ERP platforms to simpler integration (batch) with common systems. Here are some of the types of integration common to many Orbit ecommerce projects:

Payment Gateways: transaction processing

Shipping: show visitors shipping costs in real time

Order fulfillment

Product Inventory

Customer Information and Communication

Ecommerce Payment Gateways

Obviously, ecommerce websites need to process credit card orders. Sending transaction data to a payment gateway, securely and in real-time, is typical for almost any ecommerce project. Orbit has worked with Authorize.net and Paypal since 2003. Other gateways include FirstData, SkipJack and Google Checkout.

Ecommerce payment gateway integration is how your website makes money - it’s probably the reason you wanted ecommerce in the first place.

Real-Time Shipping Integration

Just like you and me, shoppers on your ecommerce site want to know how much shipping will cost before they buy. When your site integrates with sites like FedEx, UPS and USPS, you can give this information to visitors instantly and manage your margins on shipping costs.

Shipping costs are provided through API integration.

Order Fulfillment Integration

Ecommerce sites should connect to the people and systems that are doing the shipping. Integrating with fulfillment systems provides two important benefits:

Reduces the data entry time (and errors) of manually keying in orders

Speeds up communication with the warehouse or fulfillment center for faster shipping

Orbit typically connects directly to internal shipping and fulfillment systems or third party fulfillment vendors to reduce administration time, reduce errors and shorten shipping times.

Integration with QuickBooks

You would think an established widely-used accounting system like QuickBooks would be an easy system with which to integrate. Well…it is, but not on its own. Orbit typically handles integration with QuickBooks by simply providing a file export of orders to be imported into software called T-Hub (provided by atandra.com).

Product Inventory Integration

Some companies have thousands of products. It’s important that product information isn’t entered or managed manually. It’s also important that the website reflect changes in product inventory immediately. This typically requires custom POS (point-of-sale) or ERP (enterprise resource planning) integration. It allows for all product and inventory data to automatically sync with the website.

This integration saves time and money by:

Reducing administration time by automatically synchronizing the databases

Ensuring accuracy when updating website product data

Setting expectations with the customer for price and availability

Reducing time spent by customer service discussing price and out-of-stock issues

Customer Information and Communication

Orbit has significant experience programming custom functionality for B2B ecommerce websites. A custom requirement for B2B ecommerce involves an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system which pushes customer data to the website. This data would typically include a company name, an unique account number, email addresses for client contacts, price discounts, and shipping address information.

Time is saved for both the end customer and the fulfillment center with this automated process.

The customer can quickly login with their email address without needing to create an account, put items into their cart, and checkout. The only information needed is the billing information, like the credit card and address.

The fulfillment center then receives the order details with the account number and automatically updates all ERP data and sends the order to packing and shipping.

Order and shipping status can be sent back to the website followed by email notifications sent to the customer. Or, the customer can lookup the order status in their account.

This is a pretty sophisticated level of integration, and the feature is critical to daily operations of the company.

Ecommerce Integration and ROI

Saving time (decreasing costs) and making money (increasing revenue) are two main factors in determining the Return on Investment. Although websites that integrate with other systems typically have some ongoing maintenance costs, the majority of the expense is in the initial project. Time and money saved is typically far greater than this investment.

Orbit Media can help you to explore the integration options for your website and your budget. Contact a Web Strategist to start the conversation.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/ecommerce-integration/feed/0Websites and Wedding Cakeshttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/websites-and-wedding-cakes/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/websites-and-wedding-cakes/#commentsThu, 05 Jul 2012 12:30:20 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=3202And of course, one of the most important things you’ll need is a wedding cake. Should it be three or four tiers? Fondant or frosting? It better be perfect!

There is a similar excitement when you start a new company or a new marketing plan and need a new website. Like a wedding cake, ... Read More >]]>

You’re Getting Married!

And of course, one of the most important things you’ll need is a wedding cake. Should it be three or four tiers? Fondant or frosting? It better be perfect!

There is a similar excitement when you start a new company or a new marketing plan and need a new website. Like a wedding cake, your website will be the focal point of the reception; you will invite many people to see and share the event.

Like a great web design firm, a great bakery will empathize and appreciate that:

You want your personality, culture, and values to be represented in the design.

For these reasons, the best websites and wedding cakes cost more than something you find “off the shelf.”

Your memories of the decision process will indirectly affect your appreciation of the final product. The process below illustrates how great web design firms create great wedding cakes.

How Getting a Great Website is Like Getting a Great Wedding Cake

1. Research

You start by asking your friends and family where they got their wedding cake.

To cover your bases, you search Google for the suggested bakeries and other wedding cake bakeries in your area.

You read the reviews and choose a few bakeries based on reputation.

2. Buy

You inquire for quotes and ask to see recent samples.

You request that they deliver on a specific date.

You go in to do a taste test.

You choose a bakery based on the cost, how much you like the designs and tastes of the cakes, and because you really connected with the chef.

3. Design Analysis

You are asked a series of questions about your opinions on decorations, colors, shape and filling.

The chef shows you photos of sample cake decoration styles.

You show the chef your dream cake – which is much like one designed for a celebrity wedding (that no one actually ate).

4. The Design Process

The cake designer presents a few options based on your budget, design requests, the filling, and size to serve the number of expected guests.

You ask to use a different ribboning, change the yellow to blue, use round instead of square tiers, have five-petal flowers instead of six, and request more sparkle.

The decorators provide a mini cake with a design that blows your mind, but you feel compelled to ask for one last “tweak.”

You give your approval and go off to plan the rest of your reception.

5. The Scope Increases

You call the bakery a few weeks later to explain that the number of guests coming is bigger than first expected and you need another layer.

The bakery explains the costs to undo and redo the cake plan.

You say “O.K., thanks!” (after a brief cost negotiation).

6. The Product Delivered

You go back to the bakery a couple days before the wedding to see how it looks.

You are so overwhelmed with joy and anticipation at the sight of the finished product.

The cake is delivered and presented to your guests to much delight.

There are many “ooohs” and “aaahs” (but, of course, some people voice their critical opinion).

7. Apprehension to Start

You are hesitant to make the first cut because you don’t want to damage such a beautiful cake (someone needs to hold your hand while you do it).

The cake is finally served.

Now For The Honeymoon

Orbit Media treats the design of your website with as much care as your wedding cake. We know that this design represents the values and culture of your company, and there is emotion driving the decisions. We adhere to a collaborative design process – your opinions matter and will greatly affect the final design.

At the same time, our website designers bring the highest level of expertise in functional and aesthetic design. Combined, it’s a recipe for brilliance – all the right ingredients to bake and decorate a perfect cake!

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/websites-and-wedding-cakes/feed/18A Brief History of Mighty-Site: Orbit’s Content Management Systemhttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/content-management-system/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/content-management-system/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2011 17:10:57 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=2198For ten years, Orbit Media Studios has offered a content management system (CMS) for our clients’ websites. Mighty-Site is a homegrown, feature-rich CMS that presents clients with the ability to easily edit the content of their websites.
Putting Clients in Control

A decade ago we noticed a trend that business marketers wanted the freedom to do ... Read More >]]>

For ten years, Orbit Media Studios has offered a content management system (CMS) for our clients’ websites. Mighty-Site is a homegrown, feature-rich CMS that presents clients with the ability to easily edit the content of their websites.

Putting Clients in Control

A decade ago we noticed a trend that business marketers wanted the freedom to do this, but most other web design firms charged hourly for simple content changes. In 2001, there were few affordable packaged solutions we could afford to offer our clients, and open-source options were not, in our opinion, user-friendly. They were great for “webmasters,” but they were too complicated for amateur website administrators.

SiteBot

The system had to be easy for clients to use to minimize support calls.

It had to be simple.

It had to be secure.

It had to be flexible so custom features did not require custom back-end development.

The first version of our content management system, called SiteBot, was released in 2003. We included SiteBot in all our proposals and priced our website services no higher than the average Chicago firm. This strategy provided us with a big advantage over our competitors, and business started to grow.

The Orbit Baby is Born: Mighty-Site

By 2005, WordPress, Drupal and several other open-source CMS’s had gained attention, but they were still meant for developers and webmasters – not marketers. As websites with a CMS were a standard requirement, we wanted to offer something noticeably better packaged and more powerful to make an impression on prospective clients.

Orbit released the second major version of its content management system and branded it “Mighty-Site”. Brand and usability were the primary motivators for the upgrade. This build was a team effort involving Orbit’s new design team and new PHP programmers. Inspired by a 1940’s ad, I illustrated my second daughter – who just learned to stand – swapped a rattle for a barbell, and the Mighty-Site baby was born!

Ecommerce

By 2006 we had more opportunities to design and develop ecommerce websites and needed an out-of-the box codebase to offer. Ecommerce platforms were highly competitive and offered many features, but we believed we could design and build something better. Utilizing Mighty-Site’s flexibility, it was relatively easy to expand its capabilities for product catalogs, coupons, shipping rules, sales tax, and everything else that makes ecommerce complicated.

Usability => Money

At this point, developing the website was the greater challenge, but we focused on the aspects that made clients money – Design and Usability. Ecommerce sales conversion was a hot topic, and we believed we could deliver a more user-friendly process than off-the-shelf software. For example: to reduce confusion, website users placed items into their cart without needing to leave the product screen, and to prevent cart abandonment, we designed the one-page checkout form and never required a customer to create an account.

Affordable Customization

Most ecommerce projects needed something customized for their customers. Because the developers of our websites were also the developers of Mighty-Site, we had a cost advantage over random developers enhancing random open-source codebases. Thus, our clients were able to invest in custom built ecommerce sites without absorbing expenses for enhancements to the content management system.

Custom Applications

Experience gained from ecommerce development created opportunities for us to offer more complicated and custom front-end website applications. New clients were taking advantage of our services to create websites highly integrated with their normal business operations:

Membership Directories

Event Calendars

Ecommerce for Event Registration

Location Searches with Google maps

Custom products for publishers and travel agents

Customer Relationship Management

Mighty-Site never needed customizations to handle the administration of the custom data. However, there was an unforeseen consequence to the complicated data architecture: Mighty-Site was reaching usability and technical limitations on the amount of data it could effectively serve per screen. We also needed the ability to quickly expand its feature set with custom management applications and various reports.

Mighty-Site 2.0

In 2008, Orbit went to the drawing board with a new design and development team to plan the third major release of the content management system – Mighty-Site 2.0. The motivators for improvement were Speed, Organization, Expandability and, of course, Usability. Mighty-Site 2.0 was released in 2009 and is still in use today.

We have launched at least 150 websites with this system. What is more remarkable is that many clients from the early years have upgraded their sites to the new version of Mighty-Site, usually with a website redesign. The results are even better! As time advances, so does technology, and Orbit, for the sake of our clients, is right there with it.

]]>http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/content-management-system/feed/0A Tale of 3 Content Management Systemshttp://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/a-tale-of-3-content-management-systems/
http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/a-tale-of-3-content-management-systems/#commentsThu, 08 Sep 2011 18:56:38 +0000http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/?p=1873As the open-source content management systems have matured, so have competitive Chicago web design firms. For many years, Orbit clearly stood apart by providing a content management system standard with all website projects. Until recently, Orbit only offered Mighty-Site, our own CMS. To meet client demand for open-source options, we have expanded our technology offerings ... Read More >]]>As the open-source content management systems have matured, so have competitive Chicago web design firms. For many years, Orbit clearly stood apart by providing a content management system standard with all website projects. Until recently, Orbit only offered Mighty-Site, our own CMS. To meet client demand for open-source options, we have expanded our technology offerings to include three content management systems:

WordPress

Drupal

Mighty-Site®

WordPress

WordPress can be considered an “entry-level” content management system for websites and blogging. However, besides the blog software, WordPress provides few standard features. Thankfully, the variety of plug-ins can be useful tools for the savvy web-marketer with a do-it-yourself attitude.

There are a few great things about WordPress

Simplicity: WordPress is easy to learn and easy to maintain.

Tons of Help: There is a huge community of designers and developers that provide themes and plug-in enhancements.

Low Cost of Entry: Most plug-ins are free, and there are thousands of low-cost design themes to install.

For these same reasons, a common assumption is that a website built with WordPress would cost less than using other platforms.

Any business should consider these points

Good for Business? Unless significant customizations are made, a WordPress site can make a less-than-professional impression.

Customizations Take Time: All customizations require extra time to build the administration modules within WordPress.

Frequent Maintenance: With open-source comes security issues, so upgrades are released to the core system and plug-ins frequently.

You Get What you Pay for: We believe that a website will cost as much as the effort put in to make it impressive regardless of the platform that drives it. Orbit’s service, high-end design and custom development can make a WordPress site appear professional, unique and should produce great results.

Drupal

Some clients are looking for a highly robust content management system option that does not tie them to Orbit. They may want the option to use their own development team for maintenance or insist on hosting on their own servers. Orbit has adapted to this need by offering Drupal.

Why?

Great Out-of-the-box: Base features are fantastic.

Well Structured: Drupal is extremely powerful, well organized, and easy to administer.

Expansive: The module library for common features and enhancements is professional and reliable.

But Drupal has disadvantages too

Customizations are expensive: All custom front-end development requires careful planning and extra time to build so it can be administered within Drupal. This can result in 10-15% more time needed to build a custom feature.

It runs hot: Drupal’s a massive system requiring more server memory and resources to run than Mighty-Site or WordPress. Hosting costs may be higher than anticipated.

Designed for Pros: Because Drupal has so much to offer, there is a lot more to learn. Drupal is a viable solution for a business with a professional web development or IT team. Thus, the administration resources for Drupal can be more expensive than other systems.

Ecommerce is just OK: Drupal also offers e-commerce and blog modules, but they are challenging to modify to meet Orbit usability and design standards.

Although Drupal projects tend to be more expensive than Mighty-Site and WordPress, we are always confident the website will meet the business needs of our clients. Expect great results for its users and administrators!

Mighty-Site®

Mighty-Site is a proprietary content management system created and maintained by us. Designed specifically for the use of our clients – who tend to be marketing managers and amateur website administrators, we believe our CMS is simple, fast and easy to learn and use.

The great advantages to using Mighty-Site are

ROI: The budgets for custom features are almost 100% applied to the design and development of the front-end experience for your website users. Usually no customizations are required to Mighty-Site® for specific client features.

Security: Only Orbit developers have access to the codebase. Open-Source systems are constantly probed for security flaws to conduct attacks en masse.

Website Enhancements: Orbit can efficiently implement enhancements to your website. If you have seen the feature before, odds are we have designed and implemented it on a client website. This abundance of experience allows us to improve our process, lower the cost, and deliver the best results for our clients.

Ecommerce: Although Orbit’s ecommerce websites are an extension of our standard website codebase, the design and usability of the website is highly custom. Our ecommerce web designs proven to provide the highest results in terms of user appreciation, ease of use and sales conversions. This is an important differentiator between WordPress and Drupal where ecommerce is an add-on module.

Support: Because Orbit has no control over the upgrades to a WordPress or Drupal website, and thousands of developers are contributing to the open-source modules and new versions, supporting an open-source system can be very expensive due to its unpredictability. Support for Mighty-Site is included in your hosting and license cost. If there is a bug, we fix it. If you are having trouble formatting some content, we can help. Forgot how to change something? Our support team is ready.

Upgrades: Although Orbit has learned a lot of tricks by getting under the hood of WordPress and Drupal, we only continue to enhance Mighty-Site when necessary or based on direct customer feedback and requests. We want to keep Mighty-Site simple and powerful. The Mighty-Site features we have added over the years are solutions to specific and consistently requested website administration problems. If you’re a client of ours and want to discuss a Mighty-Site upgrade, give us a shout!

Mighty-Site and WordPress

The Perfect Pair?

Orbit has been using WordPress since 2010 as an extension to our standard codebase for clients wanting to blog on their website. We developed our own theme code so WordPress can reside alongside Mighty-Site. This is a low-cost, high-value solution. Clients need to log into two systems, but these systems take advantage of what they do best: Mighty-Site serves custom-designed marketing websites and applications; WordPress serves the industry-standard blog. And website users don’t even notice the site has two systems.

Expect the Best

Regardless of the platform, Orbit’s website development process, service and quality focus on results. The websites we build will: